


Waking up Part II

by Fanfic_CJ



Series: Awakening [2]
Category: Cat's Eye (Anime & Manga), 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: F/F, Past Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:20:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28463721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fanfic_CJ/pseuds/Fanfic_CJ
Summary: Continuation of Waking up, decided to split the fic on the Noir/DC line.Hitomi could see how Ran tried to concentrate on dancing again, but her eyes kept straying. Hitomi tried to see what – or rather who – Ran was looking at that made her so wound up. Before Hitomi was sure where to look, Ran said: “I know it's imposing on your good will, but my ex is here.”Hitomi remembered that Aoko had mentioned something about a bad breakup. So, Ran wanted to dump her to talk with her ex? Hitomi found herself getting annoyed. Before she could say anything, Ran continued to speak.“She is very persistent and will not leave me alone. Would you … could you please pretend to be my date?” Ran looked at Hitomi with a hard to read expression.Hitomi hangs out at a women's club and meets Ran. Things are not easy for those two.
Series: Awakening [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2084907





	1. Family breakfast

**Author's Note:**

> Decided to split the fic, because I'm having trouble with the two chapters between the current Waking Up and where this starts.
> 
> Just so no one is confused: in Cat's eye, Ai is the youngest of the Kisugi sisters.  
> The first chapter is a bit meta, hope it is fun to read nonetheless.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunday breakfast at the Kisugis brings up an unexpected topic, just because Hitomi mentions meeting someone named Mouri Ran.

## 1\. Family breakfast

Hitomi and Nami sat at the Sunday breakfast table drinking their last tea.

Ai came out of her room, blinking sleepily. “Sorry,” she murmured as she went into the bathroom.

Nami laughed at Hitomi’s angry scowl: „It’s not like you were any better when you were that age.”

“You are probably right,” Hitomi agreed. “But it would be nice to have one leisurely meal a week with all three of us.”

Five minutes later, Ai looked expectantly at Hitomi: “How was your night out?”

Hitomi wondered how her sister could change from half-asleep to thrumming energy in such a short time. She shrugged. “Same, same.” she said in a bored tone. “I met a woman named Mouri Ran,” a smile crossed her face before she could hide it. “I feel like I should know that name, thought I don’t know why.”

Ai perked up at the smile, then suddenly her eyes went wide: “Mouri Ran?!” she asked. “She’s the daughter of Sleeping Kogoru,” Ai explained animatedly. “Her boyfriend is also a detective. There’s loads of fanfiction porn about them.”

"Boyfriend?" Hitomi questioned, looking confused.

Nami cleared her throat. “You are reading porn about real people?” she asked with an icy tone.

Ai raised her hand to her mouth. “Ups.”

Hitomi was already on her feet and seconds later appeared at the table with Ai’s laptop. “So, little sister,” Nami said, “show us what you have been reading.”

Ai looked at her with a shocked expression:” You want to look at my browser history? That’s private,” she sulked. “Why?”

Nami took a deep breath to calm down. Hitomi didn’t envy her older sister the job of explaining this. ‘But… what the hell did Ai read about Ran-san? And how much of it had any relation to reality?’ Hitomi wondered if her disbelief in “corpses literally falling from the sky” yesterday had been uncalled for. Usually, only people with some sort of celebrity status had to suffer from fanfiction.

Reluctantly, Ai entered her password and opened the browser. “I know the difference between good and bad porn,” she protested, looking so much the picture of persecuted innocence that Hitomi had to stifle a laugh.

“Obviously not,” Nami told her sternly. “I know that it’s no trouble finding porn on the net, especially for you with your knack to get into any system you choose.” Nami tapped her index finger on the table. “I should have asked you about the sites you use earlier.”

Ai pouted: “I didn’t go looking for porn, really.” Her fingers ran over the keyboard and she called up archiveofourown.org where she was still logged in as Nami and Hitomi both noticed. “Naturally, I put in my profile that I’m 18,” Ai continued.

Nami and Hitomi looked at each other. “Naturally,” they chorused.

“She is actually right,” Hitomi conceded after a moment. “That’s what I would have done at 16, too.” She sighted and pushed her hair back, scanning over the tags and summaries of Ai’s history. Ai threw her a thankful look.

Nami tapped her fingers on the table: “So explain what you are doing on that site.”

“A friend from school, Shizua, she writes fanfiction for Harry Potter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and ... um ... Highschool DxD. She sent me an invite a year ago.” Ai explained. After reading her stories, I just went and explored a bit. I wasn’t really looking for porn.”

Hitomi had paged back in the reading history: “Obviously you read it when you find it,” she commented, pointing to the page where practically all entries where tagged as ‘explicit’ or ‘mature’. “Uh, it’s not what it looks like.” Ai protested in a defensive tone. ”The site lives in the USA, and they tag as explicit or mature as soon as a character even talks about birth-control, safer sex or sex before marriage. It’s preposterous.”

Unimpressed, Hitomi clicks on a random story tagged with Kudo Shinichi. “Not that, that’s a really bad one. I only read the first page.” Ai scrunched her face in distaste. Half of the first page showed a woman who looked a lot like Mouri Ran being fucked. By a guy in a white top hat in the mouth, and a guy with a Sherlock hat in the ass. The picture was technically well drawn, but the aggression of both guys and the woman’s pain radiated out from it. Hitomi stared at the picture for a moment in shock, then turned away with a shudder.

Nami, seeing her reaction, asked with a deceptively calm voice: “This Kudo Shinichi, does he happen to be Mouri Ran’s boyfriend?”

Ai looked in confusion from Nami to Hitomi’s turned back. “Yes, but this story is one of the disgusting ones, they are rare.” She paused. “Oh,” she said looking at Hitomi. With a few clicks, she brought up a different story, without graphics. “Sorry, Hitomi.”

Nami read the tags and story summary. “The characters of Silver Moon are annoyed that the US dub erases the relationship between Haruka and Minako?” she asked in disbelief. Hitomi turned back with a snort.

Ai nodded. “Yes, this story is a bit meta and very poly. Good writing, too,” “Poly?” Hitomi asked. “Ah, you know, … relationships between more than two people with all in the know?” Ai stuttered.

Hitomi blushed.

Just as Ai was taking a breath to tease her sister, Nami interrupted: “So, you do have opinions on what is good porn or bad. What are your criteria?”

Ai looked at her flabbergasted. “Uh, I don’t know?”

“Obviously, it doesn’t matter to you, if the porn is about fictional characters or real people.” Nami challenged. “No, why should it? It’s not like I know anyone perso…” Ai trailed off and looked uneasily at Hitomi, who scowled.

“Not really a good excuse, is it?” Nami put in. Ai looked down. “When it’s about real people, you need real consent.” Nami said. Her eyes are angrily drawn together. “Do you think Mouri Ran or even Kudo Shinichi have consented to participate in people’s fantasies about their sex life, let alone having those fantasies published?”

Ai shook her head. She breathed in as if to start arguing, looked at Hitomi again and stayed silent.

“So, you are going to write an essay for me.” Nami stated. Ai scowled. “An essay about why you are interested in porn,” Nami counted on her fingers, “what your criteria for good or bad porn are, if there are red flags for you to stop reading a story or not start, how the stories you read have changed how you imagine your own sex life to be. And next Sunday, we’ll talk about what you found out.”

Ai looked at her with wide eyes. She turned to Hitomi with a hopeful expression, but Hitomi only nodded agreement with Nami’s assignment. “But…,” Ai blushed.

Hitomi tried to imagine how she would have felt in her shoes. Hm, she never really had an interest in porn. But telling her sister’s what turned her on or not? Ugh. No. She looked at Nami who showed the stone face she used when she felt like she has to do some hard-core parenting. ‘ _If she really wants Ai to read that thing out loud and discuss it, I’ll be somewhere else next Sunday_ ,’ Hitomi decided.

“Why can’t you just ground me for a month like everybody else is when caught reading porn?” Ai asked in an annoyed tone, looking at the floor.

“Because I know that wouldn’t make you think about it. I want you to think about it as hard as you would on a new job for Cat’s Eye. I don’t need to hear the details, - I don’t want to hear the details – but I need you to think about the details. OK?” Nami’s tone is determined. Reluctantly, Ai looked at Nami and nodded.

Ai got up and started clearing the table. “Can I borrow this for a minute?” Hitomi asks gesturing to the laptop. “Sure,” Ai murmurs, stacking bowls on top of each other. Hitomi opens a private window and does a quick google search for Mouri Ran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my doc, the chapter is titled "Politics of porn". After reading so much explicit content on ao3, I somehow needed to write this. It fit into the overall story for some reason, so here it is.


	2. Friday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anime Karaoke night is not what Hitomi was looking for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short one.

It’s Friday, and Hitomi headed for the bar early. Saturday morning, they were going to steal The Wonder, a painting by Heinz from the American financier who just bought it from the Suzuki family. She wanted to meet Mouri Ran again. Maybe apologize for not believing in ‘bodies literally dropping from the sky’. The google search had been kind of sobering. So many corpses. Though not having an interest in detection work herself, Ran obviously had picked up a lot of skills with all the cases she has been involved in. ‘Assassins, best friends of a detective who is chasing the Kaitou Kid, I must be out of my mind. Whatever.’

Sipping a virgin cocktail, she watched the karaoke stage, where three girls are performing the title song of Revolutionary Girl Utena. Well. Followed by a team of five in short white skirts doing the Sailor Moon song of the first season. Hitomi rolled her eyes. When next a duo started on ‘Coppelia no Hitsugi’ she shook her head in disbelief and looked around the room. Yes, there was a placard inviting to the ‘Anime Karaoke Night’. Hitomi sighted. A woman in yellow tights and blue top started on the Kamen Yaiba theme song. Time to drink up and go home. Just as she set down her glass, she caught sight of Ran at the entrance. She seemed to ask the bouncer a question. When Ran looked up, their eyes met and she smiled. Hitomi gestured to her ears and made a pained face, then made a moving motion with her hands. Ran nodded and stood back from the entrance.

Soon, they were walking back to the station together. “I had totally forgotten about anime karaoke night.” Ran declared. “I do like some karaoke occasionally, but it feels like a night out with the Detective Boys when people sing anime themes.”

Hitomi laughed. “Who are the ‘Detective Boys’?” she asked.

“Oh, they were friends with Conan-kun. They are eleven now.” Ran replied easily. “Shinichi is trying to keep them out of trouble detection-wise, but they run into more cases then one would wish on anyone, let alone children their age.”

She turned so suddenly that her long hair brushed Hitomi’s shoulder. “Sorry, I forgot we just met. You don’t have a clue who I’m talking about, do you?” Hitomi opted for “Not really,” though a few newspaper articles had been mentioning a boy named Edogawa Conan who had been living with the Mouris at the time of Sleeping Kogorou’s most astonishing cases. So, she watched Ran, who animatedly explained about Genta, Mitshuhiko, and Auymi. Unexpectedly, she didn’t say much about Edogawa Conan.

“Sounds like you are good with kids,” Hitomi put in just to say more than ‘hmmm’ and ‘really’. Ran gave her a look she couldn’t quite place.

“Did I say something wrong? I’m sorry if I have offended you?” Hitomi asked her after a moment of silence.

Ran looked at her searchingly for several breaths, then gave a slight smile and said: “No, sorry, I’m a bit touchy on the subject.”

They walked on, but the easy rapport between them was gone. Hitomi apologized again for offending before their ways parted at the station, and Ran apologized again for being touchy.

‘I wish she was less polite and told me what just happened,’ Hitomi thought to herself.


	3. Ups, this should have been the end of chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ai reports on what she found out about her reading habits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I got confused, this should have been the last part of chapter 2.

Sunday morning after a leisurely breakfast celebrating yet another successful heist – Toshi seemed to be even more enamored with the Cat now that he was officially single which Nami used to outmaneuver him – Ai cleared her throat. “About that essay,” she began. Nami nodded encouragingly at her. “I thought about what you said about consent.” She looked down into her cup.

“Go on,” Nami replied.

“That’s actually my most important criterion. I don’t like stories that say they are about BDSM, but that are actually about torture. I don’t like all those stories about office sex, or …” Ai looked intently at Nami. Her face showed clearly her feelings about the things she listed.

Hitomi wondered just how much porn Ai had read to come up with such a long list of things she didn’t like. The way she decided which stories she read and which she won’t touch even at her most bored or when they are recommended by someone at school – at school, they actually talked about the porn they see, Hitomi filed away for talking about that some other time. So, her decision-making progress was sound, as far as Hitomi could tell.

“And how has reading porn changed how you think about sex?” Nami asked.

“I have a mental list of things one could do that’s much longer than before. Sex Ed at school still seems to suggest there’s the missionary position and nothing else.” Ai sighted. “But I think it would be good to find out if everything on that list is real or just works in bookspace.”

Nami gave her a thumbs up. “Ever heard of ohjoysextoy.com?” Ai shook her head. “Might be a good place to start.” Hitomi stared at her sister. Nami caught her stare and just winked.

“Was there anything you came across that you found disturbing?” Nami asked, looking at Ai.

“Most of that is either tagged so I won’t touch it or so badly made that I never get to the really disturbing parts. Just, …,” she glanced over to Hitomi then looked back at Nami, “since we last talked, I realized it’s in itself disturbing to know that people write stories about sex with children about real people.” Hitomi missed what Nami said in response. _‘Has anyone accused Ran of this? Is that why she reacted so badly to my rather inane remark?’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort of End-of-rant on the topic of porn.


	4. A Night Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another night at the club. This time, the music is more promising.

The next Friday, Hitomi once again was hanging out at the club. A trio with bass, violin, drum-machine and vocals on the stage played an unexpected mix of dance standards, jazz, and something house-like. Aoko and Akako had joined her at a table, in turn talking to tune out the music or running out on the dance floor to let their limbs fly in freestyle. Hitomi looked at them with some amusement when a voice next to her said: „Hi, is that seat taken?”

Hitomi looked up to see Ran standing there, a slight smile on her face. She smiled back. ”Be my guest.” Ran’s smile turned a bit wider as she set down her glass and took the offered chair.

“Good to see you again.” Hitomi ventured. She watched as Ran looked down at her glass, her fingers playing over the rim. It looked like she was undecided about something.

After a long moment, Ran just looked up again, smiled, and said: “You, too.” She paused. “Are you here alone?”

“No exactly,” Hitomi grinned and pointed to Aoko and Akako. Especially Akako looked wild with her hair flying and her arms weaving.

Ran grinned. “I see want you mean. It looks like she is weaving a spell.”

“Not today, I think.” Hitomi murmured.

Ran looked at her soberly. “They haven’t picked you up on the night of the new moon, I hope?” Her hands played with the glass some more.

“I didn’t qualify. But I kept an eye on things. Akako gave me a bad vibe at first.” Ran’s face as she digested the answer was a study of conflicting reactions: relaxation, confusion, a half-smile, something like alarm. “Do you know them well?” Hitomi continued before Ran found words.

“I kept running into Aoko some years ago at KID heists. Sometimes literally running into her, when KID managed to pull a disappearing trick again.” Ran’s eyes had a faraway look for a moment and her fingers stilled on the glass.

“But you are sure that she isn’t KID?” Hitomi asked, tilting her head slightly.

Ran laughed. “I got close enough to KID a few times to be sure he’s male.” She grinned and shook her head, obviously imagining Aoko as KID.

“And Akako?”

“They went to school together. I understand what you mean about the bad vibes.” Ran shook her head again. “She has.” Ran threw her hands up. “And then, suddenly, out of the blue, she helps you out when you really need it.” The sudden gesture threw her hair in her face. Her left hand rose and stroked the hair to the side again, down her cheek and neck, her eyes suddenly on Hitomi.

Hitomi followed the hand with her gaze before she looked back at Ran’s eyes. They both smiled.

“Ran-chan!” Aoko greeted her excitedly. As Ran started talking to her, Hitomi realized that the music had changed to a strange waltz-like rhythm.

“What’s this?” Hitomi asked no one in particular.

“It’s a tango waltz,” Akako explained. “Something like a South-American waltz.” She grabbed her purse and went to the bar to buy new drinks.

Mesmerized, Hitomi watched the few couples on the dance floor doing what looked like complex steps. Ran snapped a finger before her face. “Can you dance like that?” she asked.

Hitomi shook her head. “If it was a European Waltz or a ChaCha, …” she left the sentence hanging.

“I can lead those. Would you … ?” Ran left her question hanging, too.

Hitomi smiled. “I would be delighted to dance with you.”

Aoko suddenly decided to follow Akako to the bar. Ran and Hitomi sat in companionable silence, waiting for the next song. It was a slow waltz. Ran got up, bowed and offered her hand to Hitomi: “If the lady would be pleased to dance with me?” she said, with a twinkle in her eyes. Hitomi laughed and took her hand.

They took a moment until they synchronize their steps. Hitomi had longer legs and stepped on Ran’s feet a few times until she adjusted.

“Don’t look at your feet,” Ran admonished her. Hitomi raised her head and looked into Ran’s eyes. “Better,” Ran grinned. “Now lean back and relax.”

Hitomi did as she was told. Ran’s hand held her easily, a subtle pressure just below the left shoulder. Ran’s steps were sure and even though the dance floor was full, she steered them confidently through all obstacles. Hitomi enjoyed the feeling of being in competent hands. She opened her eyes and looked at Ran. Ran’s eyes scanned the room in front of them, skipped back to Hitomi, twinkled in a smile and skipped back to the room. Hitomi had to remind herself to breath whenever their eyes met. The song ended in a flourish, and Ran made a lunge step right. Hitomi unexpectedly found herself leaning over backwards, her upper body nearly parallel to the floor. Ran’s eyes twinkled with mischief as she held the pose for half a minute. Hitomi wondered what she would do next. But when a new song started, Ran just moved them back to a standing position and held onto Hitomi a bit longer that actually necessary.

“You do know how to lead,” Hitomi said with a smile. She suddenly felt a bit tongue tied.

Ran just adjusted her position and looked questioningly at Hitomi. Hitomi nodded. Ran stepped left forward and started into the Cha-cha-cha, her eyes on Hitomi. After a few simple turns, she tried out more complex steps and Hitomi just let her body take over and follow, without thinking. So, when Ran’s lead suddenly faltered in the middle of the Titanic, Hitomi nearly lost her balance. Hitomi recovered herself and turned around Ran as if that had been the normal way to end the step.

“What’s up?” she asked, as Ran was obviously preoccupied, with stiff movements and her eyes on something at the side of the floor. Ran blinked.

“Sorry,” she said.

Hitomi could see how Ran tried to concentrate on dancing again, but her eyes kept straying. Hitomi tried to see what – or rather who – Ran was looking at that made her so wound up. Before Hitomi was sure where to look, Ran said: “I know it's imposing on your good will, but my ex is here.”

Hitomi remembered that Aoko had mentioned something about a bad breakup. So, Ran wanted to dump her to talk with her ex? Hitomi found herself getting annoyed. Before she could say anything, Ran continued to speak.

“She is very persistent and will not leave me alone. Would you … could you please pretend to be my date?” Ran looked at Hitomi with a hard to read expression.

Hitomi took a moment to realize what Ran had said. The music changed from Cha-cha to Rumba. Ran stopped moving. Hitomi looked intently at her. Just then, over Ran’s shoulder, she noticed a woman with short-cropped dark curls making a beeline for them. Without further thinking about it, she raised a hand to stroke Ran’s hair aside, cupped her chin, and moved in for a kiss. Their first touch was just a brush of lips on lips. “Thanks,” Ran murmured before she put one hand behind Hitomi’s neck and drew her closer. She was still stiff, Hitomi noticed. Hitomi let her hand trail down Ran’s neck and side while Ran pressed her lips against Hitomi’s. With the contact lasting longer, Hitomi suddenly felt electrified by the kiss and opened her mouth in invitation. She felt Ran relax into her.

Raised voices behind Ran made her look up. Akako stood a few feet behind Ran, blocking the way of the curly-haired woman. “Fucking let me get to my girlfriend!” the stranger was shouting, taking a step forward as if expecting Akako to be intimidated. Naturally, Akako wasn’t impressed in the least, Hitomi though. She grinned. Ran let out a deep sight. “Damn.” Hitomi made soothing circles on her back. “We’ve got you,” she murmured.

The pink-haired bouncer appeared between the stranger and Akako. “Sera-san, you know the rules. No fighting. If you attack anyone, you’ll be banned.” The bouncer stepped forward. “Follow me.” For a moment, Hitomi feared this ‘Sera-san’ would ignore everything and attack the bouncer, but she snapped her mouth shut and walked towards the exit. Akako smirked in a way that Hitomi didn’t quite trust, but given that she had protected Ran, Hitomi decided to not think about it too much. Instead, she hugged Ran. “She’s gone.” She felt Ran sag against her and shudder.

“I’m sorry,” Ran murmured and tried to pull away.

Hitomi held onto her, stroking her hair, humming and waited for the subtle shudders running through Ran to subside. The music had changed to slow jazz numbers again and Hitomi started swaying to the slow beat. Aoko had mentioned that Ran had had a bad breakup recently, but given Ran’s obvious fear – and Akako’s interference – it was way beyond ‘bad’. Hitomi kept a tight grip on her anger and kept her movements fluid, her caresses light and friendly.

It took two more songs until Ran started to pull away again. Tears shone in her eyes as she looked up into Hitomi’s face.

“I’m really sorry,” she started again.

“It’s not you who has to be sorry about anything,” Hitomi replied evenly.

“I should explain,” Ran began again.

Hitomi shook her head: “If one day feel like it, that’s one thing,” she said. “But right now, I’d rather make you smile again than let you delve into something that’s bound to be painful.” They were still swaying with the music. Hitomi raised her left hand and slowly caressed Ran’s cheek with the back of her hand.

Ran blinked. She turned her head and, with a very faint smile, let her lips brush over Hitomi’s fingers. “Thank you.” Her blue eyes shone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really know if ballroom dancing is a thing in Japan, but I hope you enjoy the scene even if it isn't.  
> And sorry for making Masumi the villain here, I have an idea of her POV but don't know if it will be part of this fic yet.


	5. Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hitomi wakes up in a strange bed, but expect the unexpected.

Hitomi woke up with a dry mouth and the start of a headache. Some birds were singing rather insistently to the sun. Birds? She blinked and tried to get her bearings. The light was coming from the wrong side. The bed she lay on smelled strange. She wrinkled her nose. A sound like cloth on cloth made her look over her shoulder. There was Ran, sitting in a meditation seat, staring at the wall. Right, when it was time to leave, Ran had asked her to come with her. Ran had been a bit drunk. Akako had thrown Hitomi a single glance that held all the shovel talks in the world as they were leaving, and Hitomi had just nodded her understanding. Hitomi carefully moved her head, started to stretch. The mattress moved with her and Ran turned her head to look at Hitomi. “Why?!” she asked. Her expression was unreadable.

Hitomi turned to the other side to better look at her. “Why what?” she asked.

“Why didn’t you,“ she broke off, searching for a word, “continue what we started?” she ended.

Hitomi stared. Was Ran asking why they didn’t do more than cuddle? How strange. “You mean, ‘why stop with cuddling’?” she asked, trying to keep her voice neutral.

Ran nodded and looked away. Her whole body radiated tension.

Hitomi sat up and turned so she could look at Ran. Her headache got worse. “What a strange question.”

Ran seemed to stiffen at that.

“You were in no place to give or withhold consent in any meaningful way,“ Hitomi answered, astonished how tight her voice sounded. “So, no way I would do more. What do you think I am?”

Ran turned to look at her at the last sentence. Something like shock on her face. Hitomi wasn’t sure what to make of her expression, the slight shake of the head. Ran opened her mouth, closed it again. The hands in her lap moved like she wanted to clench her fists. Hitomi felt herself stiffening in response to Ran’s agitation. She took a deep breath, exhaling loudly. “You’d think I would be willing to face Akako’s wrath?” she tried infuse her voice with humor.

Ran shook her head in irritation. “What has Akako to do with it?” she said belligerently.

Hitomi sighted. “Ran-san, I don’t know what is going on here. You asked me to come home with you. You were drunk and still shaken up from seeing you ex. No way in hell I would take advantage of that.” For a moment, she imagined how Kirika would look at her. She nearly missed to flash of pain across Ran’s face before Ran looked down to hide it. “It didn’t need a threatening look from Akako. The friends who taught me all about sex are very big on consent.”

Ran looked up again, her lower lip was trembling even if she tried to smile. “You had friends who taught you about sex and consent?” she asked in a disbelieving voice.

“Long story.” Hitomi deflected. She tried to pinpoint what was going on with Ran. ‘Let me be wrong’, she silently prayed when her mind put Ran’s fear yesterday and her obvious agitation today together to form a rather ugly picture. “Let’s just say there were into some heavy stuff and wanted to make sure nothing happened that I wasn’t happy with.”

Ran’s face stiffened and she seemed to stop breathing. “You are into that.” she said in a small voice. It wasn’t really a question.

“No.” Hitomi shook her head with conviction. “It was obvious they enjoyed it, but it doesn’t do anything for me.” Ran still seemed to hold her breath. “Breath out, Ran-san!” Ran exhaled. “I promise.” She offered Ran her left hand. After a long and searching look, Ran took it. Her hand was stiff and cold as her finger’s closed around Hitomi’s. After a moment, it seemed like a hot pulsed passed through their palms.

Ran drew a shuddering breath and closed her eyes for a moment. Then she said: “I seem to be imposing on you all the time, but… could you give me a hug?”

Hitomi moved to rest her back against the wall. “Come here.” she said, opening her arms. And Ran moved in, hiding her face in Hitomi’s shoulder. Hitomi wrapped her arms around Ran lightly, stroking her back in soothing circles. To her astonishment, holding Ran made her relax and her headache disappear.

“I’m sorry,” Ran said at last without moving her head. “Things have been bad.” Hitomi only nodded in response. “I should have a better grip on that.” Ran continued.

“Healing alone is difficult.” Hitomi said. “Are you trying to do it alone?”

Ran sighted. “More or less. Akako helped some. Three other people know something happened. But I don’t really want to talk about it.” She sighted again. “But it looks like that’s a bad decision, isn’t it?”

Hitomi only hummed in response.

“Thank you.” Ran said. She stretched her back, still holding onto Hitomi.

Hitomi smiled. ‘She looks like a contented cat’, she thought. A growling noise came from Hitomi’s stomach. Hitomi and Ran both giggled.

“Will you stay for breakfast? I promise no more drama but good food.” Ran reluctantly sat up and looked at Hitomi.

“If there is time. I have to take over at the café at 1 pm.” Hitomi turned her head to find a clock, but without success.

Ran reached to the nightstand and looked at her mobile. “Half past 10.” she announced with a question in her voice. Hitomi nodded.

Ran rolled of the bed and stretched. Just in a t-shirt and underwear, her body looked much more athletic that Hitomi had expected. She looked away with a blush.

“You are blushing.” Ran whispered, astonishment in her voice.

Hitomi felt her blush burn hotter and reach up to her ears. She didn’t look at Ran.

“Hitomi -s ... ch” it sounded like Ran couldn’t decide on an honorific. Hitomi looked at her. Ran stood in front of the bed, blushing herself, her expression a mixture of hope, fear and something very vulnerable. She held out her hand to Hitomi and pulled her to her feet.

“I really liked kissing you.” Ran said, looking into Hitomi’s eyes. “Would you consider going on a date with me?”

Hitomi smiled at Ran, astonished once again about the mixture of strength and vulnerability she saw. “Yes.” She said. Finding actually time for it might prove difficult, but they would find a way. Very slowly, she raised her hand and tenderly moved a strand of Ran’s hair behind her ear. “I liked it, too.” she said, looking intently into Ran’s eyes.

Ran tugged her hand to come nearer. Her gaze switched from Hitomi’s eyes to her lips and back. “May I kiss you?” she asked.

Hitomi felt herself wetting her lips with her tongue. Ran’s eyes went wide. Hitomi nodded. Ran’s lips brushed softly over Hitomi’s. The touch was so short Hitomi wasn’t sure she really felt it. Ran looked into her eyes before coming in for the next kiss. This one was a heartbeat longer than the last. ‘Wow,’ Hitomi thought. She sighted and turned her head slightly to give Ran better access. With more confidence, Ran pressed her lips to Hitomi’s, lingering. When Ran pulled back to draw a deep breath she was flushed. She smiled into Hitomi’s eyes, before reluctantly taking a step back. “If I want to give you breakfast, I need to shower and start cooking.” she said with regret in her voice. Hitomi felt a bit light-headed. She nodded.


End file.
